Ever gotten your hands on a little book that if you could, you would buy it in bulk and hand out a copy to everyone you know? This is one of those books. I was getting ready to take a trip and wanted to bring a book on the plane. I didn’t have the focus to take on a novel, so this book of less than 100 pages was perfect.

Scott Alexander wrote this little ditty when he was 23 years old back in 1980. Today he speaks around the world encouraging those who wish to make life an adventure.  I can relate to a rhinoceros…my maiden name is “Bull.” Charging toward opportunities is what I do…it’s in my dna. These are a few of the places I underlined in this little gem, or understood enough to take away:

Rhinoceroses have a natural zeal for living. (pg 13) Live each minute as though you had to pay $10 for it. (pg 46)

We become the product of three things: the people we associate with, the books we read, and the media we listen to. (pg 20) TV is not for rhinos…too much of a negative influence.

Rhinoceroses thrive on goals. (pg 23) Rhinos are happy when they are charging at their goals. (pg 33)

At least twice a year, take off for one week and go lie in a mud hole. Do nothing but relax. (pg 27) Take the family with you. (pg 70) Then when your week is up, explode out of that mud hole and charge!

In the chapter entitled “How To Be The World’s Happiest Rhinoceros” the author writes READ THE BIBLE.  He continues, “Every success book is based on the Bible, only worded differently.”

One of the most intriguing sections was the author’s challenge to be a rhino in work and in finances. Give 10% of all the money you make back to God. After all, if he is your partner, he deserves at least 10% of the take, doesn’t he? If he isn’t your partner, sign him on as soon as possible. Where else are you going to find help like that at such a price?

The other section I found intriguing was on rhino problems. Using our rhinoceros imagination, we can lower our heads, point our horns at any problem, charge full steam ahead, and tear it to pieces. But what about sorrow? What about death and tragedy? Spending our lives in a closet is not an option, though very appealing. He stresses the importance of having a rhinoceros faith in God, a rhinoceros love for our Maker,  and quotes 1 Corinthians 2:9.

Sheep are indecisive. Cows watch life go by. Rhinos have 2-inch thick skin. Rhinos and optimism go together.  Fight over-caution with rhino audacity and enthusiasm because the worst possible condition to be in life is cool. Dead animals are cool!

My daughter and daughter-in-law broke out in laughter when they saw me take this book from my carry-on bag. Like I needed help being a rhino! But even rhinos need a fresh word of affirmation every now and then. A reminder to be alert for opportunities, make time to meet and hang around other rhinos, and develop my audacity skills.

“Rhinos have scars.  They are signs of being alive and attempting great things.”– Scott Alexander from ScottRobertAlexander.com